Like
the last line on the last song of the title track “A Never Ending Walk” says: “Where
do we go from here?”
So where do we go from here? Only time will tell. Writing, tracking, mixing, editing, mastering,
art direction...all done. Album release date: August 8, 2009. The only thing, and I mean that
sarcastically, left to do is to gig, sell the finished product to the masses, maybe with luck we'll find a
label and distributor to help us reach the masses, and well, gig, gig, rehearse, and gig
some more! So why not accomplish
two more things here. One is to be a storyteller, like that show on VH1
when right before the singer plays the song, he or she has to tell a story
about the song or how he or she came up with it. The second thing is to be specific enough so the audience
really feels like they were there in the writing or recording process of the
album. Like when you buy a movie on DVD, and there's a section where the
director literally talks and narrates over the movie, and it becomes very
revealing for everyone listening. To be honest, I don't think I've ever
actually sat through an entire movie on DVD while the director narrates. Well
this album, "A Never Ending Walk", is only 47 minutes 39 seconds
long, give or take a few more seconds between songs. But the stories behind
every song is I think...revealing. And maybe even interesting to a future
recording artist. So buy the album, open the insert, sing along because all the
lyrics are there, and come back to this blog and get the behind the scene scoop
on every song. Here it goes...
....
Preface.
Originally , the album was going to be called "Twilight". Anthony,
also known as TheXiler, and I met in March of 2008. From the very beginning, we
really felt we had compatible styles, and I could tell ego wasn't gonna be an
issue with us. I remember asking him the very first time we met: "You're
so great on guitar, why aren't you in a great band already? His response:
"Chemistry." After deciding to work together on a full-length album,
we early-on finalized four songs. We decided that we'd be a three-piece. I'll
be on vocals and bass, him on guitar, and we'll have to find an opinionated,
well-rounded drummer! This was about May or June of 2008. The four songs were
"The Twilight Prelude", "Tonight?" "Do It Again",
and "A Never Ending Walk". He showed me the whole progression and
arrangement to "Tonight?" (of course it wasn't called
"Tonight?" yet) and it was a progression that had the
"Beatles" all over it. Anthony has ideas for song topics, but writing
the entire lyrics is not his forte, so lucky for me, I get to write the lyrics!
and I don't mean that sarcastically! I thought the song had that urgency feel
to it, like "we need to do something quick before the relationship
collapses!" kind of urgency, hence the "European police siren"
we added in the end, of course on Anthony's guitar. So when I wrote the lyrics,
I was pretending to be Paul McCartney writing a Beatle song. That line
"time is running out, we've been lying low", to me sounded very
English. I even tried doing the backing vocals with an English accent on the
recording, if you can detect that. We actually recorded the four songs with
Fabian at GT Productions without a permanent drummer, thinking we can find a
permanent one that would be part of the three-piece and of course, we found one
in Bryan G! Eduard Tomany, a very good friend and a Los Angeles Music Academy
alum, did the drums for those four songs. He pretty much did all four songs in
one take each, within a couple of hours. He was amazing! He wasn't gonna be our
permanent drummer because he already was in another band. Bryan G came to us
around September of 2008. He absolutely loved the ambient tune "The
Twilight Prelude" and wanted to be the third and final piece of RUB.
From day one, Bryan was such an easy drummer to work with. There were two or
three or four other drummers we tried out before Bryan, and believe me, it's
not easy finding just the right one! Bryan is not only an incredible drummer,
he also plays guitar, keys, trumpet and sax. Just exactly what we wanted to
find! What a find! So the stage was set to record the rest of the album. We had
decided between ten or twelve songs, and we simply left it to the artistic Gods
what the rest would become...Oh yeah, by December of 2008, when the
"Twilight" movie was being heavily marketed and saturating society,
we started having second thoughts about naming the album
"Twilight". Ok press
play.......
....
1)
The Twilight Prelude - I've always wanted to write an "ambient" tune.
Being a huge U2 fan, I am very aware of Brian Eno's involvement with the band
and his influences on what's become "ambient" music. I've listened to
a few of Eno's songs and there's obviously a "cinematic" link to his
tunes. The word "scapes" comes to mind when I hear his music. Anyway,
I wrote this really slow baseline melody and thought: what a way to start an
album! Kind of like the sun slowly rising in the beginning of the day. Anthony
liked the tune and came up with all sorts of funky sounds on his Telecaster.
Believe it or not, there are no synths on this song whatsoever! When Bryan
brought his djembe, and added the "light thunders" in the song, it
was complete! In the end, I brought it up to the guys to maybe not start the
album with this ambient tune (I started to chicken out!), and it was Bryan who
put his foot down and said to stick with the original idea. If fact, I think
it's one of Bryan's favorite tunes in the cd. I'm really happy we kept it as an
opening song to this very eclectic and diverse album.....
....
2)
When The World Was Flat - Anthony composed this entire song. He had the idea
from beginning to end. When he first played it to me in his acoustic guitar, I
kept calling it "Morroco", because it sounded like that Middle
Eastern-Rolling Stones- "Paint It Black" jam. Right away, I thought
the song needed an "other-worldly-and-era theme. I had this idea of
writing a song about my childhood. Basically, the idea is to say that "in
the old days, as children, we went out into the world looking for the best
things that can happen to us. But now days, we go out into the world thinking
the worst things that can happen to us." Those words are not exactly very
poetic in melody, so I wrote the lyrics to "When The World Was Flat"
while sitting on a couch at my girlfriend's office. The song's lyrics actually
portray my childhood events in Manila, Philippines. The part about playing in
the rain (because it's tropical!), staring at the clouds, swinging on steel,
and sliding on cement are all very accurate accounts. So accurate that the
playground I used to play with are still there! It was inner city Manila! The
what-I-would-call "jam session" in the last minute and a half of the
song was a total collaboration from all three of us. It was one of those
moments when we needed to break song arrangement rules and just go with the
song! And oh yeah, the snare drum solo in the beginning was also from my
childhood. But it was in Los Angeles, in my Junior High School Band, where I
played the trombone (Always in the rhythm section!). We played one of those
band composition with this dramatic snare intro. I think it might have been
called "Procession of the Nobles". I could be wrong. Anyway, the
snare intro came from that, which suffice to say have never left my brain all
these years! And finally, we were going to find a DJ to do the
"scratches" on the song, but Anthony took care of that with his Tele.
I would say this is a song full of childhood memories and guitar
"wah-wahs! ....
....
3)
Do It Again - I honestly don't know how we came up with "Do It
Again"! I remember working with another drummer named Joe, and Anthony and
I came up with this three chord progression and this really cool guitar intro,
and before the afternoon was over, it was already called "Do It
Again"! I was writing the lyrics as we worked on the arrangement. For some
mystical reason, some things are like unexplained gifts. It's very difficult to
take personal credit for such things. Songs, stories, paintings, sculptures,
etc., some things just come dropping from the heavens. I do remember, as I was
writing the lyrics, that I wanted to write about man's incapability to learn
from his mistakes. The overlying theme was that old saying: "If you don't
learn from history, you are bound to repeat it!" Or "do it
again". I think now days that statement is very apparent. The first verse
was a very simple thought. Adam, my then three-year-old son, had fallen while
running on uneven cement at a park. He cried for three minutes, rubbed his
knees, and went running the same exact way when he fell. I thought at the time:
this is mankind's fate in a nutshell! For some reason, I also figured Judas in
the song, because he was the ultimate "man among apostles" story. For
some reason, I found that connection. Anthony's guitar intro is really
something to behold in this tune. It's so very good that I felt the rest of the
song was all downhill from there. Until he brings it up again with the guitar
solo! ....
....
4)
Love Is Raining - I wrote this song around 2005, the last year I was completely
involved with the local Catholic Church. I had taught Confirmation for five
years, and had always dabbled into writing a "gospel-type" tune. When
I wrote the intro, I imagined a gospel choir singing it and the crowd yelling
out their "Amens" and Praise the Lords". Maybe in the video that
will happen. The E/G/D/A progression is probably one of the most over-used
progressions in the history of pop and rock music, but I couldn't let go of the
meaningful message of the song. The collaboration with Bryan and Anthony on
this song actually improved my early arrangement. Anthony's guitar playing on
this tune is just really off the charts! That solo is just effing sick! I also
really liked the way the vocal echoes and delays sounded on the mix. Fabian of
GT Productions did an amazing job with the mix. I still remember the words
"Stick Around". That was going to be the title of the song. It was
going to be my ultimate "anti-suicide" statement! It still is, but I
changed the words to "Look around", because it sounded less
authoritative, and decided to call it "Love Is Raining". I thought
that was a very original title. The bass entrance right before the first verse
sounds so dramatic, only because of a slight accident when we were tracking the
guitar. Anthony held the note a little longer than he was supposed to, but the
way it turned out, it was another one of those impromptu gifts from above!
Sometimes you write while you're recording. You can't really plan every note!
You gotta leave room for spontaneity! ....
....
5)
Maybe - I would say Maybe is my favorite song on the cd. Another one of
Anthony's amazing rock compositions. When he first played it for me, I thought:
"Wow, this is a HUGE song!" I can't write a simple love-story-lyrics
with this super-heavy composition! So when I asked him what themes he had in
mind for the song, he wrote down some thoughts and phrases, that included, from
what I remembered: "the end of the world", "maybe it's time to
go", maybe heaven is calling us", and other things that had to do
with "the end of time". Personally, I have always had an interest in
this idea of the apocalypse. I was in Cancun in 2006, and the tour guide
started telling me about the Mayan calendar ending precisely on December 21,
2012. Yes, it ends on a day! I had never heard of that nugget before that
moment. So of course I google it and I guess the interpretation might be that
it's a "New Age", as opposed to "the end". Biblically, we
are all seeking this "eternal life". So mystically, there really is
no "end". The ultimate correct answer?.... Maybe. Musically, in my
opinion, Bryan had a lot to do with making this song as big as it is. The drum
part, from the beginning to the very end, is in my opinion one of the most
original rock drumming I've ever heard. It's a very heavy,
march-with-life-or-death-urgency style of drumming that Bryan pulled off! ....
....
6)
Let Me Take You - This little song was my effort in writing the simplest pop
radio song I can write. It started as a bluesy little number with just an
acoustic guitar and me singing it. Then Anthony came up with this
out-of-this-world guitar riff and the song took on its current personality. I
wrote the lyrics for my girlfriend who sometimes gets as burning hot and feisty
as I do, and when sparks fly, both for the good and the bad, you better get out
of the way! The whole "sun" thing must be an obsession. I, for some
reason not yet known to me, am a little obsessed with the word "sun".
When I purposely sit down to write songs, I always gravitate to the idea of the
sun, and the idea of flying is not far behind. I think they might be connected.
Maybe a hypnotic diagnosis might shed light on this, but for now, expect a song
about "flying to the sun" on our next album! Actually my favorite
part of the song is the ending. I really like the way we arranged that cool
drum ending. Most of the times the intro of a song is the most memorable, but
once in a while, it's the ending. "Let Me Take You" definitely has an
ultra cool ending. Also I might add, the guitar solo on this song is again, off
the charts! What's amazing about TheXiler's guitar playing, I might as well
share it here, is that they are so amazingly sick that you'd think he arrived
at them with many takes ar the recording sessions. The truth is, most of the
guitar solos in the album were pretty much done in one take. Fabian, Bryan and
I would listen to the take, look at each other, and shake our heads with
amazement. Like the Clash song says: "They say true talent will always
emerge in time." That time for TheXiler is now!....
....
7)
The Girl Who Sat Next To Me - Ok I
have to admit, this song almost does not belong in this album. This was my
effort in trying to see if I could write a reggae song, and try to appease
Bryan at the same time. It's because Bryan is such a huge reggae fan! In the
beginning, this melody came to my head and I was singing it all day. It kind of
sounded like the chorus to Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark"
tune. At the end of the day, I wrote these really quirky lyrics, putting myself
in a typical K-ROQ (an LA alternative rock radio station) fan's mindset. When I
offered the song to the guys, it just didn't work. We couldn't put it together
right. So I gave up on it for a week or so. But then it kept creeping up in my
brain. I called the guys and told them that I didn't want to give up on the
song. We got together again and we decided to make it seriously reggae, and the
rest was history. The punk/ska chorus just easily became a huge part of the
song. At the end of that session, we were pretty fond of ourselves. And I was
so glad that I didn't give up on the song. Then many revelations occurred.
During tracking, I actually, somewhat, pulled-off a reggae baseline. Then Bryan
and Anthony towards the end added some vocal tracks to the "I still love
you part". That screaming maniac is Bryan and the guy who yells
"Yeah!" was Anthony. Of course the guitar sound is just so clean and
perfect! Then one night Bryan brought his alto saxophone and added the sax
track. Bryan said he hadn't touched that sax since high school, but the track
sound insane! Then the biggest revelation was the mix. Fabian wanted to go
beyond reggae. He suggested this specific genre of reggae called "reggae
dub". I had no idea what that was exactly, but when I looked it up on
itunes and youtube, I was surprised! In case you're not familiar with "reggae
dub", here's the definition of it, from wikipedia:....
"Dub
is a music genre evolved from reggae, that involves revisions of existing
songs. The dub sound consists
predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by
significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing
the vocals from an existing music piece, emphasizing the drum and bass
frequencies or 'riddim', adding extensive echo and reverb effects, panoramic LR
delay, and dubbing occasional snippets of lyrics or instruments from the
original version." ....
So
you learn something everyday, and every record. I think we took that song as
far as we can take it. It was great for Fabian to share his knowledge and
experience with this song. Fabian's pixie dust is definitely sprinkled on this
album!....
....
8)
Daydreamer - I had written this "ode to Bo Diddley" tune around 2007,
complete with "the riff" that he invented. Just imagine, you write a
particular guitar riff, and then
everyone copies it and make their own recipe with it. That's Bo Diddley!
Here are some popular songs that copies that Bo Diddley signature: "Magic
Bus" by The Who, "I Want Candy" by Bow Wow Wow, "Not Fade Away" by Buddy
Holly, "How Soon Is Now"
by The Smiths, "Faith"
by George Michael, and of course, "Desire" by U2. I think these
artists not so much "copied" the riff, but more like "pay
tribute" to Mr. Diddley. I would say I wanted to pay my own tribute
because two of my personal favorite bands, The Who and U2 have done it so. Our
version starts more like George Michael's version, (and no apologies there!),
but I really feel that it stands on it's own sauce. I particularly like the
Tom-tom drumming that Bryan did during the guitar solo, and also the subject
matter of a "hopeless-romantic-daydreaming-high-schooler" gives it
real intrigue.....
....
9)
Tonight? - Like I mentioned on the preface, this is TheXiler's long awaited
tribute to The Beatles. In my opinion, this could have been a lost Beatle
track, maybe in one of their earlier albums, like "A Hard Day's Night".
If you're a true Beatle fan, you'd easily recognize the "Twist and
Shout" reference. When we were tracking this song, it clearly became
evident to me that we were definitely paying tribute to a couple more of our
musical influences, like The Who, The Clash, and The Violent Femmes. And yes, from the very beginning, I
thought that this tune and "Daydreamer" are two "original
tribute" tunes in this album, and that is why one follows the other.
Again, TheXiler's guitar playing really shines on this track!....
....
10)
Las Vegas Baby - I had written a separate (somewhat poetic) blog for the origin
of this song. Here it is: ....
....
It
was a Las Vegas awakening. A hot,
dry desert day almost gives in to a forgiving dusk as the sun goes down on the
Las Vegas strip. It's the summer of 2006. I cannot remember the exact date, but
for snapshot moments like these, exactness gets left behind by the mood of the
one and only "sin city" experience. I'm staying at the Bellagio Hotel
with my goddess, taking in the city, and of course, the Las Vegas mantra of
"wonders never cease" keep my senses at constant spin cycle. The
hotels, the casinos, the 24-hour contagious euphoria of both locals and
tourists alike, the world's famous landmark facades; the surreal experience of
the Eiffel Tower, the Manhattan skyline, and St. Marks's Square of Venice, all
help to keep the excitement, and the romance going. ....
After
a long desert walk, we end up right where we started, on the sidewalk, staring
at the "bella vista" that is Bellagio, right between the strip and
the lake. It was full of people, yet it felt like they were just a part of the
facade, and we were there alone, waiting for the waters to rise. Water, for
some spiritual reason, always binds the heaven and the earth, connects the sea
and the sky, and dilutes the man-made and the natural, you get my drift. As
excitement looms, and the shortened anticipation comes to a halt, we hear some
god-forsaken Shania Twain song blast over the many outdoor speakers along the
lake. It was a moment of inspiration, unknown to me at that very second. The
high flying, graceful fountain waters emote feelings of utter amazement, and
the crowd gazes with wonders and ahhs. After the last drop, I stood there, left
with this calling: "I could write a better song for this!”....
The
following morning I wrote "Las Vegas Baby".....
....
Ok,
so it might be corny to some, but that's exactly how it happened! Two things to
add about the recording. Bryan and I both agreed that this song has the best
guitar solo on the album. And I'll repeat what I've said before: Anthony
recorded this solo in one take! I'll also mention that Bryan added a djembe
track, and in my opinion, added so much to the mood of the song. Vocally, I originally wanted a girl singer
to do the higher "But love, won't get us through the night" part, but
since I was able to pull it off (so we think), we just left it with that
version. I was going to go for that Iggy Pop/Kate Pierson "Candy"
duet thing, but it wasn't meant to be. Maybe when we do it live it can happen.
So Kate, if you're reading this, call me and let's collab!!....
....
11)
A Never Ending Walk - And then there's "A Never Ending Walk!".
Anthony wrote the musical composition for this song, and again, he gave me some
ideas on the theme and lyrics to write. At the time we were writing this,
Anthony and I had a deep conversation about what the word "twilight" meant to us.
Again, we were really going to call the album "Twilight". This was
about August of 2008, before there was any kind of news about the movie. I
remember we were on my driveway, and Anthony was explaining that to him,
"twilight" meant "two lights", or "twice the
lights", as in during dusk and dawn, when both the sun and the moon are
both present. This was really
fascinating because I never thought of it that way. I always looked at
"twilight" as absence of one of the lights, not the presence of both.
Anthony was really on to something here, and I remember he ended the
conversation by saying that the idea of "time and space" really
fascinated him. (Who knows, maybe he's got Mayan blood, or was one in another
life, or something?) . ....
Anyway,
when he wrote the notes for me to write the lyrics for the song, right away the
phrase jumped out and I wanted to call it "A Never Ending Walk". He
also jotted down the line "life never seems to last - maybe God hates us
all?". It might sound a little "anti-god" off the cuff, but if
you read the entire lyrics, what it's really saying is "we really need
you, God", and is asking, "why is everything such a mystery,
God?" The chorus reads: "Where do we fit in? Are we imaginary or
real? Where do we fit in? Is there a secret to reveal?" I've always felt that the true
faithfuls are the ones with more questions, not answers. ....
I
was very proud of co-writing the lyrics to this song, and I honestly think this
song has the best lyrics on the album. Towards the end of the mixing, we
decided to call the album "A Never Ending Walk", because we felt it
really bound the songs together. ....
....
Recording
notes:....
We
recorded "A Never Ending Walk" at GT Productions Studio
(www.myspace.com/gtproductionsla) in Los Angeles, with the young and very
talented Fabian Roque. Fabian did all the tracking, editing, mixing and
mastering on this album. Fabian Roque played keyboards on “Do It Again”.
Edouard Tomany played drums on “The Sunrise”, “Do It Again”, “Tonight?” and “A
Never Ending Walk". Roberto Conte played keyboards on “A Never Ending
Walk”, "Las Vegas Baby", and “Tonight?”. Bryan G played djembe on
“Las Vegas Baby” and “The Twilight Prelude”. He also played saxophone on “The
Girl Who Sat Next To Me”........
....
The
final thing I want to mention is that it's been a true pleasure finishing this
record, and I think it shows in the recording! There were no fights, no
disrespectful moments, no major arguments, and no minor ones either, and
definitely egos were not an issue whatsoever. Everyone contributed, and no one
took anything for granted! This was a total collaboration and everyone played a
major part. Like I've always said, a true compromise is when everyone wins and
everyone loses. In the end, everyone wins!....